Modernity, Freedom, and the African Diaspora: Dublin, New Orleans, Paris

356 Pages·2012·4.326 MB·English

by  Elisa Joy White

Modernity, FreedoM,
and the aFrican diaspora
Blacks in the diaspora
Founding Editors: Darlene Clark Hine, John McCluskey, Jr.,
and David Barry Gaspar
Series Editor: Tracy Sharpley- Whiting
Advisory Board: Herman L. Bennett, Kim D. Butler,
Judith A. Byfield, and Leslie A. Schwalm
Modernity, Freedom,
and the african diaspora
Dublin, new Orleans, Paris
elisa Joy white

indiana university press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street White, Elisa Joy.
Bloomington, Indiana 47404-3 797 USA Modernity, freedom, and the African
diaspora : Dublin, New Orleans, Paris /
iupress.indiana.edu Elisa Joy White.
p. cm. — (Blacks in the diaspora)
Telephone orders 800- 842- 6796 Includes bibliographical references and
Fax orders 812- 855- 7931 index.
ISBN 978-0-253-00115-3 (cloth : alk.
© 2012 by Elisa Joy White paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-00125-2 (pbk. :
alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-00128-3
All rights reserved (electronic book) 1. Blacks—Ireland—
No part of this book may be reproduced Dublin—Social conditions. 2. African
or utilized in any form or by any means, Americans—Louisiana—New Orleans—
electronic or mechanical, in cludi ng Social conditions. 3. Blacks—France—
photocopying and recording, or by any Paris—Social conditions. 4. African
information storage and retrieval system, diaspora. 5. Community life—Ireland—
with out permission in writing from the Dublin. 6. Community life—Louisiana—
publisher. The Association of Americ an New Orleans. 7. Community life—
University Presses’ Resolution on Permis- France—Paris. 8. Dublin (Ireland)—Race
sions constitutes the only exception to relations. 9. New Orleans (La.)—Race re-
this prohibition. lations. 10. Paris (France)—Race relations.
The paper used in this publication I. Title.
meets the minimum requirements of the DA995.D75W49 2012
Ameri can National Standard for Informa- 305.896—dc23
tion Sciences—Permanence of Paper for 2011051854
Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-
1992. 1 2 3 4 5 17 16 15 14 13 12
Manufactured in the United States of
America
To my beautiful parents,
Reggie and Margaret, with love and gratitude

contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I. The African Diaspora in Dublin
1. Decolonization, Racism, and the Retro-G lobal Society 31
2. Status, Numbers, and the “Retro” Revealed 50
3. Media Representation and Black Presence 68
4. Racism, Immigrant Status, and Black Life 88
5. A Community in the Making 109
Part II. The Glitches of Modernity
6. Dublin: The Olukunle Elukanlo Case 153
7. New Orleans: Race Meets Antediluvian Modernity 179
8. Paris: The Liberating Quality of Race 217
9. Conclusion: Toward a Modern Future 274
Notes 283
References 297
Index 323

ackno wledgMents
In the course of developing this book—a journey that spans a decade,
three countries, and at least seven personal residences from the Atlantic
to the Pacific—I have benefited from the kindness, commitment, insight,
time, patience, and support of many wonderful people in vari ous places,
spaces, and capacities along the way. I am sincerely grateful for them all
and what follows will no doubt neglect a few.
Thank you to Kim Butler, who expressed interest in this project in
the early days and has been a beacon all along, and Robert Sloan, Edito-
rial Director at Indiana University Press, for keeping the project alive and
offering crucial critiques that pushed this work into its strongest form.
Many thanks for the very helpful comments from the anonymous read-
ers who approached the scope of the work with great care and consid-
eration. Thank you to Sarah Wyatt Swanson for her careful preparation
of the manuscript and Louis Simon for his gentle and fastidious copy-
editing.
I am particularly indebted to the many individuals in Dublin’s anti-
racism and immigrant rights communities for the numerous interviews,
rich conversations, “hang out” time, friendship, and candid expressions
of hope, doubt, joy, and pain. Thank you to the members of the Anti-
Racism Campaign, Residents Against Racism, and the Anti- Fascist Ac-
tion for the camaraderie, commiseration, and inspiration, from Mount joy
Prison to the pub. Special thanks to Rosanna Flynn and Mags Glenn on
for allowing me to lurk a bit and for unendingly demonstrating how the
good fight gets won. Thank you to Pat Guerin for the useful updates, the
proper politics, and the “good for you” Guinness over the years.
When working on a project like this, though there is certainly plea-
sure, it seems one mostly courts tragedy, stressful conditions, disaster,